East Vancouver seemed to have a lot of enthusiasm for Halloween this year.Mark Felix / AP

Call it Halloween for data nerds. We asked Metro Vancouver residents to tell us how many trick or treaters came to their houses, to identify the region’s Halloween hot spots. Close to 500 people answered our call.

Then we asked Andy Yan of Bing Thom Architects and Richard Carpiano, of the University of B.C.’s sociology department, what our highly unscientific map tells us about Metro’s neighbourhoods. Here’s what they had to say:

An east-west divide in Vancouver: The largest cluster of people who responded to the survey, and two of the five neighbourhoods that received the most trick or treaters, were in East Vancouver. More specifically, they were in what Yan described as the “creative crescent” of the Commercial Drive/Hastings Sunrise/Grandview-Woodland neighbourhoods. There were also large numbers of trick or treaters in parts of Mount Pleasant. And while the west side of the city had a few busy neighbourhoods, such as Kitsilano and Douglas Park, large swaths — particularly Kerrisdale, Shaughnessy, Point Grey and Dunbar — were ghost towns.

Because this is self-reported data, researchers have to be careful about the conclusions they draw, Carpiano cautioned. It is, after all, possible that some neighbourhoods received dozens of trick or treaters and residents just didn’t report them. But even the act of taking part in the treat count indicates a certain level of community engagement and enthusiasm about Halloween, he noted.

Zombie hordes and ghost towns: Throughout the region, there were certain areas that responded enthusiastically to the survey and were zombie horde territory, such as much of East Vancouver, Steveston and Burkeville in Richmond, and Queen’s Park in New Westminster. And while the response from outside the City of Vancouver was higher than previous years, large parts of Burnaby, the Tri-Cities, Surrey and the Fraser Valley fall squarely into the ghost town camp.

“I definitely think that this correlates with a certain sense of community that you see in certain locations,” Carpiano said. Trick or treaters are often attracted by creative displays and haunted houses, which are the defining features of the Halloween hot spots identified by the public, he added.

And speaking of those hot spots, the Top 5 are:

Trinity Street, East Vancouver: Several houses in this neighbourhood just northwest of the PNE reported more than 1,200 trick or treaters, the most of any area in the city. Two individuals, who reported 1,230 and 1,240 trick or treaters, said this was a record-breaking year. The area is well known for its vibrant seasonal displays at Halloween and Christmas.

Douglas Park, Vancouver: This neighbourhood makes a repeat appearance on the Halloween hot spot list. Several houses in the area, just north of Cambie Street and King Edward Avenue, cracked the four-figure mark, reporting more than 1,000 trick or treaters. There is also some indication the hordes of candy-hunters that traditionally descend upon this area are migrating east — several houses in neighbouring Mount Pleasant also reported more than 300.

Queen’s Park, New Westminster: Another traditional Halloween hot spot, this New Westminster neighbourhood next to the Pattullo Bridge was the largest cluster of houses reporting more than 300 trick or treaters. Some came close to cracking the 1,000 mark, reporting as many as 800 or 900 candy hunters.

Burkeville, Richmond: This historic pocket of Richmond, which is geographically isolated from other parts of the city as a result of its proximity to the airport, was one of the biggest Halloween hot spots outside the City of Vancouver, with one house reporting more than 600 trick or treaters.

Commercial Drive, East Vancouver: Hordes of candy hunters — as many as 800 — were drawn to the neighbourhood east of Commercial between Kitchener and Venables by extravagant displays, which included pirate-themed and Star Wars-themed houses.

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